21 Savage, Offset and Metro Boomin Collaborate Make a Halloween Masterpiece

The album cover.

Evan Bodenstab

The album cover.

Evan Bodenstab

Rappers 21 Savage and Offset and producer Metro Boomin released a collaboration album at midnight of Halloween. The album, rightfully entitled Without Warning considering they announced the release just hours before it happened, is a 10-track project that brings the heat right off the bat with the opening track and doesn’t cool down throughout the rest of the album. Travis Scott and Quavo are each featured on a song and outside of those two, the album is purely 21 Savage keeping up his great work with Metro Boomin-produced songs and Offset proving why he is undoubtedly the best Migo.

Highlights of the Album:

Ghostface Killers. The first track introduces a perfect Halloween vibe for the project, thanks to Metro Boomin’s simple yet ingenious use of spooky-sounding bells and synthesizers. 21’s verse specifically caught my attention as he seems to test out flows and rhyme schemes that he has never used before, and uses them well. Travis Scott’s feature on this track is a pleasant addition as well as his rhythmic bars skate perfectly over the beat.

Rap Saved Me. Just like the opening song, Rap Saved Me begins with an excellent Halloween sound with the use of chainsaws, gun cocks and creepy laughs behind 21’s adlibs. The hook is the main highlight of this song, as 21 Savage describes how rap music enabled him to escape the violence and misery of living in the ghetto and start a life of luxury. Quavo’s verse at the end is a respectable attempt to keep up with the momentum Offset has been coasting on, but it is his only chance to shine in the project while Offset uses every verse of the 8 songs he is on to keep building his reputation.

Ric Flair Drip. The best song on the album in my opinion, one can sense right off the bat from the simple sounding yet hard hitting beat that whoever has verses in the song will have plenty opportunity to present the best of their bar-spitting ability, and Offset meets and exceeds every expectation. His flow combined with the bassline and high hats keeps the listeners head nodding throughout the entire track. The second verse is when he decides to show what he is capable of, alternating through his standard slow and double time in an intriguing way. I’m not sure if Takeoff and Quavo could have made this song any better than it already is.

Nightmare. If someone unfamiliar with this album were to try to guess what time of year it was released, this song is the dead giveaway. It screams Halloween, once again starting with the wolf howls and screeching in the beginning, and supported by the repetitive references to Freddy Krueger and nightmares in the hook. It captures perfectly the spooky spirit of the holiday, from the beat to the lyrics.